The Imperfect Dads Podcast

Episode 259 | Andy and Luke of Piebald

• Devon Neisen • Season 4 • Episode 260

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On this episode of The Imperfect Dads Podcast, Devon is joined by Andy and Luke of the legendary band Piebald for a fun conversation about fatherhood, music, careers, and the challenge of balancing family life with being in a band.

Andy and Luke share what it's like raising an only child while continuing to create music and tour. Andy talks about teaching his son how to cook and how being a chef influences the way he parents, while Luke discusses his work with Noble & Cooley Drums, life with an ever-growing collection of animals, and the everyday adventures that come with family life—including why Andy has learned to watch out for sewing needles at Luke's house.

They also dive into the creative process behind Piebald's first new full-length album in years, Tales for Rages (released June 12), what it was like writing and recording new music, staying connected while touring, and finally sharing the album with longtime fans.

Whether you've been listening to Piebald since the early 2000s or you're discovering them for the first time, this episode is packed with stories about fatherhood, creativity, friendship, and keeping your passion alive through every stage of life.

In this episode, we discuss:

  • Fatherhood and raising an only child
  • Parenting through cooking and everyday life
  • Andy's career as a chef
  • Luke's work with Noble & Cooley Drums
  • Life with way too many pets
  • Touring while raising a family
  • Staying connected with your kids on the road
  • Writing and recording Tales for the Pioneers of the Raging
  • The realities of making music as dads
  • Friendship, family, and life in Piebald

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to stream Piebald's latest album, Tales for the Rages, and follow the band for upcoming tour dates, new music videos, and more.

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This podcast is part of the Never A Phase Network, follow them on instagram at @neveraphasenetwork and check out their podcasts like Emo Kids Anonymous  Wasting Time Podcast Certified Fangirl and The Ska Mailman

SPEAKER_01

Welcome to the Imperfect Dads Podcast. This is your host, Devin. We believe dads care deeply about their family and kids, but they don't always have a space to discuss what their life looks like. Our podcast is a space for dads to discuss the ups and downs of fatherhood and how they feel like they're holding it together or how they're not. Thank you for joining us for this episode. This podcast is part of the Never a Face Network. Make sure to follow them on Instagram or go to the website NeverAffacenetwork.com. On this episode, we have an Andy and Luke from the band Pybald. We talk about them both having one kid, Andy teaching his son cooking techniques, Luke's day job with Noble and Cooley, and Andy's job as a chef. Luke owning too many animals, Andy stepping on sewing needles at Luke's house, touring and staying connected with the family, and writing new album and getting it released. Piebald's new album, Tales for the Rages, came out on June twelfth of this year. You can stream it everywhere. Follow them on Instagram to keep up with tour dates and all the new music videos they're doing for the songs. Oh, my bad. Well, since there's two of you on this call, I do actually have to do like an introduction of some sort and be like, hey, Andy and Luke, if you could introduce yourself and like so we have like a voice to the name and all that stuff. So you know, say who you are, how many kids you got, ages, all that good stuff.

SPEAKER_00

Alright. I'll go first, Andy, since I had my kid a little before you. So I think I have seniority in this topic. My name is Luke Garrow. I am the drummer of Pybald. Um, and I am also a dad. I have one kid. She will be 16 later this year in October. Um and yeah, I'm excited to join your cop your podcast and uh talk about all my awesome experiences being a dad.

SPEAKER_03

All right, I had my kid second, so I will go second. Uh my name's Andy Bonner. I play bass in Pybald, and my son uh just turned 13 last week.

SPEAKER_01

Nice.

SPEAKER_03

And that's fun.

SPEAKER_01

That is, and so you guys have a frame of reference for me. Uh I have a 10-year-old daughter, eight-year-old daughter, and almost five-year-old son. So my kids are a little bit younger than yours.

SPEAKER_03

Oh goodness. Sounds like a mad hunt.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yes. Well, currently, uh, if I do a podcast during the day and it's the summer, I let them watch TV while I do it. So I'm like, all right, all of you get to choose one show and you can't argue about it. So you have to just do it. What's it like to only have one kid? Do you where you don't negotiate all like constantly? Because my life is just constant negotiations.

SPEAKER_03

Um I don't know. I mean, I I yeah, I don't know how you do it. Um you know, there's there's still a lot of negotiating just with one. Um, but at least you're not trying to balance uh a bunch of uh you know kids that are developing at different rates and have different levels of seniority and stuff like that. So that's gonna be tough.

SPEAKER_00

It definitely comes with its own challenges. Yeah, for sure. Uh I noticed with just having one kid, um my daughter's like has like very developed negotiation skills. So she's still got them. She she'll still push back and negotiate, but but it's almost like we just now have a third adult in the house to factor into every single plan we make. And because she's the kid adult, um, everything still leans in her favor. So it's like she's never had to really like bite for the attention or do other stuff like that. So she just expects to get it all. Um but she also has very calm skills, like she doesn't um she doesn't quickly react and and scream louder, which I've noticed kids that have siblings are like they tend to do that. They've they've developed knowing that they have to be the squeakiest wheel or have the best excuse or the best negotiation skills in order to get what they want. I'm like, she's just knows how to just go straight for it because she always expects to get it.

SPEAKER_01

Have you like taught her how to drive yet, or she like got a car yet and all that?

SPEAKER_00

She's had her eye on a few different cars over the past few years, but right now she's dead set on me restoring my um now, I guess, now vintage Mercedes, which is it's a nice one. Luigi. So yeah, Luigi. So I still have my Mercedes that I had converted to run on vegetable oil. I just haven't used it almost almost since she was born, because it just stopped being a reliable car. It has over 360,000 miles on it. So ever since she was born, I think I put her in it once and then ended up getting a new car. Now I've had three or four cars since then, but I always kept it because I have just a huge nostalgic connection to it. I'm like, it's it's an old Mercedes, it's it's an awesome car. I just have to work on it. And so fast forward 15 years, I have never not had any time to work on it, but I still have it. And now she's been like sitting in it and playing drive in it, um, and is expecting me to restore it. So that's that's you know another thing that I've added to my long list of things to get done. But this one has a deadline. I can't, I can't, you know, let her down in that sense. So pretty soon I gotta get working on it. Andy, you've still got like three years before you got to teach your son how to drive, right?

SPEAKER_01

Have you even put any thought into that yet?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I think about it all the time. It's blowing my mind. You know, because the because he's like, you know, you go from being a kid to being a teenager really quick, I think. And um, you know, thinking about him driving uh uh a couple years ago was like, oh, that's so far away. He's you know, he's still a child, and now, you know, he's he's taller than his mom, and he's you know, he's doing this with me.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um, you know, and I'm like, oh man, he's gonna be driving in like, you know, two and a half years.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So uh, you know, at some point my uh I think my dad took me to like a parking lot and just like gave me the I mean back then it was I had to learn how to drive a standard. Yeah. Uh so he took me to a parking lot and was like, just let's try driving. And so I assume I'm gonna do that with him at some point. Um he's uh he's driven the go-karts a few times. First time he did it, he just went sailing right out there, went off the track. Um so I'm like, ooh, this is gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, um, can't do that with a big one. No, I I remember I'm the youngest of three, and like I'm surprised my dad had any patience left whenever it came time to teach me how to drive. Because like, yeah, I already, I'm not like the first one, sure I'll figure it out, second one I'll figure it out. But look, by the third one, I feel like I'm just gonna be like, Can you just I'll do driving school? Yeah, you're like, I don't, I'm good. I've already had so many near-death experiences doing this. Can someone else just do this?

SPEAKER_03

Um yeah, I don't know. Um it's it'll be interesting. I mean, from parents that I talk to that their kids are driving now, they're like, Oh, this is great.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um, you know, he's going to his own thing and he's, you know, he's picking up his brother and his sister or whatever, like involving them in kind of like the family, you know, yeah, logistical stuff.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I think I remember my parents being like, we'll pay for your gas money if you like run errands for us. Like, hey, if you go grocery shopping whenever we need like the one off thing, we'll flow you like 20 bucks for gas. And I remember them being like, Oh, thank God you can do this. So I'm I'll probably institute something like that also whenever that time comes. Yeah. Luke, do you think you'll make your daughter help you restore the Mercedes? Or is that kind of like a if you do that, you gotta be like in complete control of it?

SPEAKER_00

Um, given how valuable time is these days, I don't know that I'll have the patience to pre to pretend that she's helping me restore, although I do think she would sit there with me and you know, hand me tools and um clean the car and do stuff. So yeah, I'll I'll definitely actively make her be a part of it just for the experience of that daddy-daughter bonding moment of when we finally fire that engine up and it just roars and all its glory, and then uh yeah, we got another working car. Um she does have a uh added um I I wouldn't call it a complication, but an added aspect to her becoming a driver. So she has two horses. They're both one's a pony, one's a miniature horse, which yes, there is a difference between those. Um, and we have a horse trailer, like a tiny horse trailer. And and my Mercedes does have a toe hitch, which I always found fascinating. I'm like, you it's rare you see a car with a toe hitch. I guess maybe that was either more common during that era or because it's a diesel engine, maybe it can take it easier. But yeah, we have a small trailer and she'll need to learn how to drive with a trailer, so she's got to get those trailer ninja skills down as soon as she learns how to drive a pony.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, I have to ask now, what's the difference between a miniature horse and a pony? Besides, one is a little Sebastian from Parks and Wreck and one isn't.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Um so when you're standing back and you quickly look, they kind of look the same. A miniature horse is a bit stockier, so almost like shorter legs, you know, and just like proportionally doesn't look like a horse, whereas a pony proportionally looks like a horse is just smaller. Okay. That sounds like BS, right?

SPEAKER_03

I always I mean I always thought a pony was just like a baby horse.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, me too. Honestly, I did too probably for a while until until I had both, and then I actually had to use the part of your brain that would think about such things as that. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. They're not the same thing. Oh, yeah, I knew that. I think I knew that.

SPEAKER_01

Yep. I also love like I feel like so much of parenting is like trying not to choose the options where you traumatize your kids or at least be aware of it. So you're already being like, I'm not gonna make my daughter do the repairs of the car because that's not gonna turn out well for any of us. So I'm gonna set the scope correctly of what I trust her with so I don't like at least I'm not gonna pay for therapy for that later. Other stuff? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, no, that that's exactly it. Um, I don't want to part either of us through that. Yeah, exactly. Don't do that.

SPEAKER_01

Don't do that. Don't do that. Yeah. Andy, what's something where you like your son wants to help out with it, and you're like, I'd rather do this myself, but I want to include you, so I'm gonna do that.

SPEAKER_03

Um I gotta say it's cooking. Um I've I've been working as a professional chef for like 20 years. Um so it's hard. Honestly, it's hard for me to like let other people do anything in general. I kind of like fly by the like if you want it done right, do it yourself kind of mentality. And so, and I take a lot of responsibility and stuff on at work to to get a lot of things done. And then when I come home, it's it's almost like I have a uh 15-minute break in between shifts. Uh, you know, I get out of work, I get a 15-minute walk home, and then I punch in here to make dinner for the family.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So I'm like, I always have to be mindful of like what uh my mindset when I when I'm doing that 15 minutes to be like, you gotta turn off like the professional kitchen thing and like chill on everybody. Uh and you know, you're cooking for a different reason, and it's like it's more fun and should be more rewarding and stuff like that. So um he's shown a little bit of interest in cooking and he knows how to do a few things. I I'm nervous about knife stuff, but like, you know, I brought him uh he came to work with me a couple weeks ago, and you know, I showed him uh, you know, how to make like the the prep for making tomato sauce. And you know, I'm like, here's how I want you to cut the onions, and he's like, I know. And I'm like, no, no, no, no. Like, yeah, this is how I want you to do it. He's like, I know. And I'm like, don't say no, say okay. Like, because he's never had a job before. So I'm like, when you get a boss, yeah, um, you know, your boss's gonna be like, I want you to do it this way, and just be like, okay. Okay. Um so we work that out, and I'm like, all right, I'm gonna go work over here, and you just cut these onions and carrots and stuff. And he walks over 30 seconds later, he's got his his hand in the air, and he's like, Ah, I did it, I did it. And I was like, Oh, he got his first kitchen cut. Um, you know, so when that happens, you're just like, all right, you go into nurse mode, and I'm like, all right, let's go over to the the sink. You gotta wash it out, see how bad it is. We'll get you the band-aids and stuff. Like, so physical injury stuff I'm a little worried about with him, and you know, but he is interested, and I want him to be able to cook for himself. And you know, he could do a couple, he can cook eggs pretty well, but yeah, um, you know, the mystery of chicken and fish is sort of in stake, is kind of lost on him. But we'll we'll get there eventually. I just need to like I I need to dial it back a little bit and be mindful of that so that I'm not like what are you doing? Why would you do that? That's ridiculous, you know.

SPEAKER_01

Well, you also want to create like a he's he's gonna need to eat for the rest of his life. So you do want to create like a healthy relationship and environment around food as well, where he doesn't just like I'm gonna go cook something, oh my god, I just had a flashback. I'm having PTSD of my dad screaming at me is not so ideal.

SPEAKER_03

Crying on the floor of the kitchen, yeah. Yeah. Um let's not do that. So yeah, I mean it it that's switching from a professional into like uh, you know, an amateur teacher is uh uh it's an interesting transition.

SPEAKER_01

Well, I mean it's drastically different paces and like I don't know, I feel like if you're back in a kitchen cooking, like your son isn't staring there, being like, so we almost ready to eat yet or almost done yet. Like it's just very different energy for all of that.

SPEAKER_03

There is that too. And he'd rather just like kind of play games with his friends and wait for dinner than hang out with me and make dinner. Yes. Um but you know, baby steps, we're working on it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, man. Yeah. I think my kids like to help me bake stuff, but not cook stuff. Because baking usually includes chocolate chips and like treats. So that's why I think they like that instead.

SPEAKER_03

I find that there's like a a time when you're cooking where you're like, oh, we're together and we're doing it, and we're doing it, and all of a sudden I look up and I'm like, where'd he go? Mm-hmm. You know, I'm like, d it's not done yet. Like we we have to do the next step and then the next step and the next step. Um but he so he likes to dabble a little bit.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Which is fair. He's a 13-year-old boy. I don't expect much attention span for that. Yeah. Yeah. I I try to like teach, yeah, because yes, I think cooking's uh one of the things where I try to teach my kids like here's what I learned. So you should learn this habit. Like if I do throw something in the oven, that's whenever I start to clean up the dishes that I just dirtied. So I'm like, hey, this clean as you go, that way you don't get done. And then they'll like kind of catch on, but then I'm kind of like, all right, just go do something else. Just know this is a good practice. If you can get in this habit, it's really good.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's all that's tough for anybody to clean as you go, and that like cleaning is actually part of the process. Um, you know, my uh I have a 16-year-old nephew, and um he just spent a couple weeks with uh my parents at their house, and they were like, he is an amazing cook, uh, but he uses every single pan in the kitchen. Yep. Um, and I think that just comes from like, you know, if they're cleaning up after him, or his parents are cleaning up after him, then he's like, Yeah, I can use whatever I want. And plus, there's like in the culinary field, there's like the mise and plus, and you just like you get everything, you have to get everything ready. You watch the cooking shows, it's like, here's my little bowl of paprika, my little bowl of salt, my little bowl of this, and everything. So when you're preparing a recipe, you tend to pull out all the all the kitchen supplies and get them dirty.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

But also, I can't watch that because if I watch someone do that in real time, I'm like, you don't have a there's not like a staff who like you have in those videos, someone's videoing it, someone is then coming after you and cleaning it up. And it's like, that's just your parents, and that's just like the account. Yeah, you're just I don't know how to do that.

SPEAKER_03

I always thought, yeah, it's like don't leave it for somebody else to do. You know, don't leave your messes for somebody else to clean up. But yeah, um, yeah, I don't know, it's tough.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. No, it's it's uh it's hard not to be like in dad mode whenever you cook with your kids because we are like, are you making too much of a mess? And it's like actually they've never done this before. This is probably the adequate amount of mess.

SPEAKER_03

That's fine. You know, let's let's let's get the place messy and then we'll get it clean.

SPEAKER_01

But yeah. I I struggle with that. Of uh, whenever I see a kid making a mess, I'm like, well, I'm probably the one who's gonna clean that up or fight with them to clean it up. Luke, do you feel like there's any moments of your fatherhood life where you're like you're watching your daughter and you're like, I'm just gonna have to clean this up later. I need to leave so I don't just correct her the entire time.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. Almost everything she does, I see the trail of debris going behind her. And and she dabbles in almost every craft imaginable. Oh, yes. Like her main craft now is sewing, but it's also it's sewing, it's knitting, it's it's it's every type of um it's every type of craft that involves making some sort of articles of clothing. And and you know, she she's pretty neat with it, but because she gets so into so many projects at once, it's inevitable that like I walk into any room and there is just a trail of stuff, and then every surface in that room is covered with uh a project that's you know in in motion. Um, so I can't be like, oh no, what is this? I'm like, oh no, that's beautiful. Look what she's making. I guess I'll put my plate of food down somewhere else. Um yeah, a lot of that stuff. And then and then naturally, um I mean, we have a lot of animals, and so that in and of itself, like the animals make their own um debris fields that the humans who take care of those animals are supposed to clean up, you know, whether it's hay or food or or manure or whatever. So just wherever I go is something that I'm like, yep, that's got that's gotta get taken care of. Um I I mean I think for the most part she's no, I actually you would think she would be a neat kid, but I when you when you go into her room, sometimes I'm like, all right, was there an earthquake in Massachusetts that I didn't know about?

SPEAKER_03

Just in the one room. Just in the one room.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. My oldest daughter has also gotten into sewing, and I did not realize how messy sewing was. Because yeah, there's like the even if she's trying to be clean, you know, there's like the you snip off the end or something like that, and that string ends up on the ground, then you do another thing, and then that ends up in the ground, and like, yeah, I find myself like immediately bristled. Then I'm like, dude, she's 10, she's exploring something, she's using your hands, just like getting it. Like, there's so many positives here, but like the I'm gonna have to clean this up later in my head, it's just like, uh, can you not please stop this?

SPEAKER_00

It's not true. Yeah, um, and somehow maybe this goes back to our one kid um scenario thing, but somehow she's taken over every room in the house that's not occupied. Um, so she has she used to have three bedrooms, or at least you know, three rooms that she claimed as hers. Now she just has two. Um but even on the first floor, um, there's times where like the sewing machine will be up in her room, but then now it's in the kitchen, now then now it's in the living room. Um and you can imagine when when you have you know the the activity zone moving around like that, the the the debris field follows it. Um I'm I'm just lucky, and I guess I should knock on wood. Um I feel lucky that I haven't like fully stepped on you know a sewing needle or anything like that. I did that. I did that. Oh, dude. Yeah, just I'm like, how could you possibly pick up every little needle you're using? Of course, some of them are probably gonna fly somewhere, but I guess luckily that has not happened yet.

SPEAKER_03

The last the I think the last time I not the last time, but the time before that I stayed at your house and um uh you had a she had a shag rug, and I like stepped on it barefoot and just like I jumped off the ground. She home alone you. Yeah. She did home alone me, and then uh they I I told uh Karen they got rid of the rug. It was for needles.

SPEAKER_00

You know, because because uh Andrew stays in one of her rooms when he's at our house. Um so maybe that's maybe that's not an accident. Maybe she's really trying to like be like I think she might have been trying to get me to move. Maybe I'll keep my room.

SPEAKER_03

She's like, well, Stewart sleeps in the basement, maybe you can too.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, look, that's why you haven't stepped on the needle yet. Andy's taking all the bullets for you as he walks back.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I appreciate it. She walked around your room with the magnet. She's she's getting stuff up for you, buddy.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

What a good bass player you are. Right. Yeah. My my daughter had left the needle, like we had like a we have a chair that's like cloth on the armrest stuff, and I didn't realize she had left one in there. So I pushed myself up to get up and just pushed it into that. And I was like, and like threw it because I was just mad at it. And my wife was like, that's not gonna make anything better. Now someone's gonna step on it over there. And I was like, I understand. It was just a primal instant reaction of I just got stabbed by something, get it away from me. I'll fix it. Give me, I'll find it, hopefully. Not in my foot. What do you what do you guys do for like uh day jobs? Like besides, you know, playing in pie bald and releasing their music with them. What's your day jobs?

SPEAKER_03

I cook at a at a local music venue, independently run music venue and restaurant uh called Deep Cuts. Downtown Medford. Pie Belt's played there a couple times. Um yeah, it it's a cool, fun little spot. I mean, it's mostly sandwiches and lunch stuff, and uh um it's good. I love seeing bands come in. I love you know getting a cook for them and be hospitable to to them. We have kind of like a shared space with like backstage in the kitchen and stuff, so it I always try to make them feel welcome and things like that. But nice.

SPEAKER_00

I'm the manager of Noble and Cooley, which is a drum manufacturer. So you even when I'm not doing pie ball, I'm not too far away from drums. Um it it's fun, it's the oldest operating drum manufacturer in America. It's been around since 1854. Um we make only very high-end boutique drums. Like every every drum we make is custom to the order. Um, and we do most of the woodwork and everything that goes into building the drums in-house here. So never a dull moment. Um, I'm the only person here that doesn't make drums. There's four guys that make drums and then me. So I wear a lot of hats. Um, my daughter has come and worked worked here uh for you know various days. Um you know, when she said some time off helping me fold t-shirts or pack up merchandise and stuff like that. Um so yeah, yeah, I'm uh I'm I am surrounded by drums in every aspect.

SPEAKER_01

Nice. That sounds almost like you're like a high-end project manager to make sure people's kits are being made on a timeline, communicating all of it and making sure I'm what's it like to ship drums? What's it like to ship drums? Is it does it really suck to ship drums? Like I don't want to I don't want to get you too angry potentially, but what is it like to ship a drum?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, no, I'll I'll I'll give you the short answer to that. Yes. Shipping drums is the worst part of what we do because so much time, like months and months and months go into making each drum, and it and it's the most beautiful thing we've ever seen on earth. And then you have to pack it away, which we pack them really nicely, but put it in someone else's hands. Someone else who notoriously um doesn't have the best reputation being kind to packages, which is shipping companies. You know, no offense to the shipping companies, but they don't have the best reputation. And a drum, like, you know, can a lot of things can affect it, you know, the the the temperature, the moisture levels, stuff like that, whether it gets hot, whether it gets cold, and then also how how it's treated. Um so yeah, there's a lot of times, or not a lot of times. I think we're we're very fortunate next to other drum companies, but there's definitely times where some very disappointed customer who waited many months sends you a photo of what the drum showed up looking like, and you're just like heartbroken that that happens. So it's the it's our least favorite part of what we do. We actually, if anyone's around us, we encourage them to come for our factory pickup program and get it, get it right from the factory.

SPEAKER_01

Yep. Well, I have friends who are traveling musicians, and yeah, I've seen the horror stories of someone puts their guitar or their acoustic in the care of an airline and then they pick it up on the other side and it is just destroyed. And they're like, cool, this was uh I was only bringing this one acoustic with me because I was doing a solo acoustic show somewhere, and now I can't do my job and my favorite guitar is destroyed. So thank you.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, shipping instruments is just too bad it's unavoidable sometimes. You just need instruments to go places, but it's it is the toughest part of the life of that instrument.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it is. When was the last time you guys did a tour in which you weren't like within driving range to go to the show?

SPEAKER_00

I mean, we go out to do shows on the West Coast or festival appearances and stuff like that. So we we do have to travel often, you know, outside of the quote unquote driving zone of our home base where all of our equipment is. Um, which is usually in those situations it's backline. You know, we're flying with the bare minimum. I mean, we do have to fly with the guitars and some smaller drum stuff. Um, and then the last time we did a full tour that wasn't close to our house, me and Andrew and our um tour manager Dana got into a van and packed everything up and then drove down and basically met everybody down um in New Orleans. Is that where we went? Where do we meet? Yeah, somewhere down the south. Yeah, yeah. And that was I mean, that was years ago now at this point, but that that that's what we would do again if we were starting somewhere reasonably. We would um you know pack it up and drive there and hopefully you know make sure we don't start a tour on the West Coast. Pretty much I mean you guys are all in Massachusetts, right?

SPEAKER_03

Um most of us. Okay. Uh Travis is still in he's in New Orleans.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

Um, so that makes everything a little bit more interesting. Uh so somebody's always flying with equipment somewhere. Okay. Uh or you know, I I got a basement full of it right now. Luke always has a basement full of it because that's where we normally practice. Okay. So thank you, Luke, for putting up a lot of stuff.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_01

You should see what I do with it when you guys aren't there. Yeah. That's how that's how you perfected your shipping of instruments, is by practice everything on Pywald. Totally, man. What when you guys recorded your album that came out this summer, where'd you record it at? Did you record it in Massachusetts or did you record it down in like New Orleans?

SPEAKER_03

Uh we did record it up here. We recorded in North Reading uh with our friend Doug at The Den. Okay. Uh he's got um he built a barn behind his house and has a studio in there. And we had worked with him before. Uh we did our last album with him 19 years ago. We did our Christmas 7-inch with him. Um, so he's just been, it's really comfortable for us to work with him. And being that we're kind of spread out, we were more spread out. Um, you know, Aaron used to live in Los Angeles too, so like we were just kind of spread spread out and having a place where we could go, and he would let us like take a day, and you know, we'd set up mics and we could practice and work on some stuff while we were in the studio on as low pressure and stuff. So um, but we, you know, we could really only do it in short spurts, um, you know, three or four days at a time, whatever anybody could get off of work. And um, so we started it probably about nine years ago or something. Like it was just like, well, let's go in the studio and like just let's try to do a new song, let's just see what we sound like now. And uh, you know, one song, and then the next time we did, you know, two songs, and then we were like, let's do a bunch of them. And we were planning on them just being demos um for a long time. And then, you know, based on how long it took us to even make those, it was like, you know what? I don't think there's ever gonna be a chance for for all of us to have like a month off and go in a studio. And we already have, you know, we got like 18, 19 songs already that are like almost there. Can we get some of them across the finish line? So uh that's how we kind of finished it up.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And also, if you said you started it like nine years ago, throwing a pandemic in there also, I'm sure, made you guys take like two years off from like being like, this new music.

SPEAKER_03

No, we're good. We actually got a lot of stuff done during that time. We we uh did a lot of garage band stuff, yeah, and just sort of like working collaboratively on projects and like, hey, I had this idea, like gonna send it to you, and you know, can you put something on it? And it we had never done that before. Um, so it was, you know, it's not the best quality and stuff, but it's great for getting ideas down and for working with other people. So um, yeah, that was very helpful for us uh during that time. I think we got a lot of stuff done while we were all off and waiting for the world to maybe come back together again.

SPEAKER_01

Man, I didn't realize it had taken you guys like or that you'd worked on it off and on for like nine years or so. How does it feel to like have it released out into the world, or like how's that feel to uh like be on to the next phase of the album and everything?

SPEAKER_00

It feels awesome, although we know we know based on a few factors of how the world works now that it's a long runway for us to get this record out and really push it. So we're all in the mindset for that. Um but to hit that as a milestone is amazing. You know, like Andrew said, we we've been working on it for a while, and even the psychology of it, you know, we're we're trying to um figure it out. There was a point where where we were like, we're gonna put out maybe a few songs on our own just to like really break the ice um and show and show people, look, hey, we have new music, and then maybe use that to try to get a label interested to work with us. Yeah. Uh, and then some of the songs we had demoed and then went back and we were like, this this is gonna be the album version, and then we didn't. We're like, the demo's better. It's got it's got an energy that we like better. So we go back to use that. So it was it was something where we had a million discussions, but almost had no idea what we wanted to do until all of a sudden it just clicked. Okay, yeah, this is it. We basically have too many songs for a record. I I think when we finally were we're like, we're gonna do the record now, we had over 15 songs. And we're like, we we know we have plenty of songs, we know we've recorded almost every single one except for maybe you know a small handful of them that we could use. So and I think we're notorious for um second guessing everything like that. Like it's been a long time since we've had a manager, so it's our four four voices that we have to hear. And yeah, because that we're such a democracy, it's four equal voices that can go in and be like, yeah, I don't know, and yeah, I don't know also. Um, and that kind of perpetuates it. But to finally get over the finish line is amazing, and you know, we're we're excited just hearing the reactions we're getting, but also ready for the long road ahead of you know, probably pushing a record like this for 18 months, if not two years or so, to really to really achieve what we would say, like, okay, we've saturated all the people that would want to know about this record. We've gone to them, I think, for uh for a band like us in today's world with with you know a hundred new records coming out every day. Yeah that's probably the the amount of time we need to really truly give it the um the attention it deserves. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Well and did you guys are you guys touring with or did you already do a tour with the format? Did that happen for you guys yet? We did uh show. Okay, okay, okay, cool.

SPEAKER_00

That was it. Yeah. In Boston. No, it's it that that's a funny topic because my my good friend Don is the bass player of the format, and I always give him some guff about uh, hey, how come we're not getting more of those shows? But he's you know, he's he's he's the guy that plays bass in the band. Um he's just the bass player. Yeah, he's just the bass bass player. He's just a power.

SPEAKER_03

Nobody listens to them anyways. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

That's right. But we're we're gearing up for um what what we're gonna do either this fall or in 2027. So in discussions now with a lot of our peers, bands that we've toured with for the past you know, 20 to 30 years now at this point, uh, that are, you know, hopefully we'll we'll find some that are um decent size bigger than us to take us out so we can get in front of some new eyeballs. Uh but either way, it's like we like to play to have fun. So you know, while while we while we do think strategically and are like, all right, what can we do to you know make the most out of this and get new fans or whatever? At the end of the day, if it's like that's not fun, then most likely we're not gonna do it. Um we we we like to play for the sake of playing and for the enjoyment that both us and the fans that come out to see us get. And so you know, whether it's us doing a headline show or you know, opening for another band that that that we enjoy playing with, um we'll we'll be planning out what the next uh phase of that looks like.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Uh for you guys, or any of you that like uh personality-wise, are you guys more like analytical or action-oriented? Because like I'm more of an analytical person where I almost get like paralyzed by overanalyzing every angle of it. What's your guys' vibe with that?

SPEAKER_03

I mean, I guess I can overanalyze myself out of any decision. Um, you know, I feel like I I'm really good at seeing negative uh stuff. I'm like, oh, well, that's not gonna work because of this, this, and this. And uh Luke is definitely better about like, okay, well, let's talk about what the solutions are. Yeah um and then it's just uh, you know, like he said, we don't have a manager. It's like it's um self-motivating. And I feel like uh at least with the four of us, I mean we've known each other forever. So um, you know, it's somebody takes the lead, somebody take, you know, somebody takes a second, and then like uh something happens, something changes in life, and whoever was taking the lead can't do it anymore, and somebody else comes up and and does it. So there's like sort of like this revolving uh, you know, job that we have where it's like, oh, somebody's we're not getting a whole lot of response out of so-and-so, but let's do this thing, and then the next time it comes around, that person's in and I'm out or whatever.

SPEAKER_01

So Luke, I would imagine you're pretty action-oriented based on your project management and your day job.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I I I want to say in in the past I was very analytical to the point of crippling, crippling my ability to just do stuff. Something happened recently in the recent years where now I don't hesitate and I just do stuff. I I think it's you know, rounding that corner in your life when you realize you have less time ahead of you than there is behind you. And YOLO, as uh the kids say. And so now I'm very action-oriented oriented, like I'm I'm driven by lists, both personally at home, professionally here, with pie ball and everything. I always have a running list. And I think just with the amount of life experience I've had in all those realms now, I can just look at what it is, and something happens in my brain where I probably do analysis, but I'm not dwelling on it. And I'm as quickly as possible being like, let's just do something. And and even like with this record, like that felt like for a while there's deliberation, then all of a sudden I was like, nope, let's just do this. Stop thinking about it, go, go, we just gotta do this. And and at work right now, I can't survive unless I just do stuff over and over and over and over. So somewhere the analysis is happening, but I've put it much more in my subconscious, I hope, yep, brain that it's happening up there inside you, and that you're making some good decisions for this body that I am living in right now. Um, but yeah, right now I'm I'm fully action-oriented.

SPEAKER_01

That having three kids, I feel the same way. I mean, before, very laid back, very much like, yeah, I'll get to that if I get to it. Now it's like, no, no, no, if I like, I think there's one time I was talking to a guest on a call and he I like mentioned an album I think he would like, and I just went ahead and texted him the album while on the phone call. Because like if I don't do it right now, I'm not gonna do it. I'm not going to do it. And it's like an interesting level of like, yeah, I'm 39, so I'll be 40 next year. But as I get older, I'm just like, no, man, if you don't like do it right now or create a plan, you're not doing it. Where like 10 years ago, me would have been like, well, what's the vibe? What's the energy? How am I feeling today? I'm like, nah, do it now or you never do it. Just do it. I know you guys took a break from Piebald and everything, um, or have had like multiple reunions and all that. Does it take much for you guys to get back into like a creative mindset to get back into like a writing mode, or is it kind of just like in your subconscious where you're working on spec, oh man, I've got a riff, I've got a drum beat that I'm excited to share with the band.

SPEAKER_03

Sometimes it takes a back seat to the other stuff. Yeah. Uh for sure. Uh it'll be like, oh man, I haven't played bass in two weeks. Um, you know, and then I'll go, you know, a couple weeks where I'm playing every night. Um, so I just try to find like little little pockets of opportunity. Um, you know, a lot of time it's you know, my son used to have a bedtime and now he kind of rejects that. Uh, but it used to be like, oh, once once he's in bed, I I'll go down the basement and hack around on bass for a little while. Like I have my little my times. Um, but now he's I mean, he's up all the time. And it's not like I can't play around him and stuff like that. But um, yeah, it comes and goes, I guess. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, absolutely. It's it's tougher to find, you know, like a daily time to do that, especially as a drummer. I know my wife and Kate will tell me, no, go play whenever you want. But when they're sitting there right in the living room directly above where my drums are, I'm like, I'm not gonna do that to you guys right now. Uh so most of my playing happens in my hand and on my on my legs um at work and and driving and stuff like that. Um, and then yeah, as a band songwriting and whatnot, I mean, I've just as a drummer, I have to sit there and be like, who's got something for me to play to? Uh, you know, I I I I can do my own writing in my head and then do and in fact I do a lot of writing in my head. I sing jingles to my wife all the time that I'm sure she loves. Um but yeah, as like a you know, for for Pivot, I'm like, all right, I'm either practicing for a show, uh practicing just to you know keep my chops up or whatever, but in terms of like songwriting and whatnot, that ebbs and flows on when we need it, or usually usually has to start with somebody being like, I got something. I'm like, let me put something under that for you.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

It it does feel so different when your kids start to stay up later, because like, yeah, if my kids are still awake at like 9 30 or 10, then like, yeah, they're also like go play guitar, go do whatever. And I'm like, no, you guys are gonna have a need, and I'm gonna want to meet that need.

SPEAKER_03

I still feel like I'm responsible for him. If like he if he's awake, I mean, like, once he went to bed, it was like, okay, cool, now it's me time. I can do what I what you know, I can be selfish and go play music and put headphones on and ignore the world. Um, and it's you know, but he's 13, it's not like he really needs me to do it. He needs me to stay out of his way and leave him alone, is what he needs. Yeah. Um, so I'm you know, I'm just finding the the new equilibrium of like, when can I just like scoot down there for a little bit and play and then come back to it?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Because I also try to avoid saying the phrase like when do I get to do what I want to do? Because that just seems so mean. But it is like I want to play guitar, I want to plug in, I want to do this stuff, and like I don't want to do stuff that takes away from family time, so I feel like I'm taking care of I don't how do I even phrase this, which doesn't just sound selfish as hell. I don't know how to do that. Right. And I'm not even a band that actually people expect to play shows. I'm just strumming around guitar in my house. So still important. Still important.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it's still important, still feeds the soul.

SPEAKER_01

It does. But yeah, I feel the same, man, of just kind of like if a kid's awake, I assume I should be available to help him out with something.

unknown

Right.

SPEAKER_01

And even if they don't, you I it's I think it's because like the fear of once I get into the zone, once I plug in, once I strum the first chord, is whenever they're gonna be like, hey, can I get this? And you're like, oh yeah, sorry, uh let me go do that. Of course. It's gonna destroy.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, you're like, I'm not gonna plug back in. Like it's you know. And it's not their, you know, it's not their fault. And it's like No, it's not. You know, all the stuff they do with them is stuff that you want to do too. I mean, it's like man.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it is. Um, for like when you guys do go on tour and stuff, what's like what's a way you found to like stay connected with your family, or do you just do a lot of FaceTime? Do you only do like certain days of the week or anything like that?

SPEAKER_03

Well, Luke and I used to bring uh laptops so we could play Fortnite with our children. That's so cool. It no it it uh never worked too well. Um, but that was a way, you know, I can I can play some games with my kid just to stay connected. That's cool. Um sometimes. Um it's amazing how like self-sufficient they are. Yeah that like you know, I you know, we're way on tour, and I'm like, call him, I'm like, hey buddy, what's going on? He's like, nothing. And I'm like, how was your day? Fine. You know, it's like I haven't talked to you in you know 48 hours, and he's like, uh, kind of hanging on my friends. And I'm like, okay, see you later.

SPEAKER_01

Um I just no, I tried. Can you can you tell some party, can you tell future self that's mad at me for being my mentor that I did try to that'd be great.

SPEAKER_03

But it's like ultimately that's what we're trying to do is like you know, create kind of self-sufficient human beings that that make their own decisions and hopefully they're good decisions. Um so I'm like, all right, cool. You seem like you're fine. Cool.

SPEAKER_02

Call me if you're not.

SPEAKER_00

Right? Yeah, I I feel like when I'm away, all the communication from my daughter goes comes through my wife. Like she'll be like, Yeah, Olive had this to say to you, or this, or like send a photo of like this is Olive wanted you to see this, and I'm like, okay. Um my daughter's actually very not proactive with me with communicating through devices in person. We talk all the time, but like when I'm away, if she were to like text me, um it would be very specific about something, not not just a casual like just checking in, like that that doesn't cross her mind at all, I don't think.

SPEAKER_03

I'm wondering how dad's doing.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or just just a hilarious meme, you know, something like that. That'd be good.

SPEAKER_03

I get memes sometimes or little YouTube videos.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. What look would almost make you more worried if your daughter did just text you, like, how's it going? Where you're like, are you good? You don't normally talk to me like this. I'm appreciative, but are you looking at it?

SPEAKER_03

What do you really want?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, at this point, yeah, I'd be like, How much money do you need? What like what's going on? Are you are you in trouble? Uh do you want another horse?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, do you want another horse? Yeah, she's working.

SPEAKER_01

You went from mini horse to pony now. She's like, hey dad, it's time for the horse. He's a cladsdale. Yeah. Next one's a big one.

SPEAKER_00

She has definitely asked for the bigger horse. Um I'm like, I'm gonna get two already. Can't we add those two together? Like yeah, yeah, that's how it works. Yep. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

That's how it works. Yeah, yeah. Together they're a giant horse. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01

No, that's it's I'm waiting for that day whenever like a kid reaches out to me and I'm like, what's Bale set at? Just tell me, just that way I can go ahead and see if I can meet it. And like, what's the cause I know that yeah, I know like in four years from now, my oldest daughter's going to only talk to me if she needs something, is what my assumption is. Because it seems to be around 13 to 16, is whenever they're like, man, I guess I'll talk to you if I have to.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it does happen. It definitely does happen. It sneaks up on you too. All of a sudden, you're like, oh, wait a minute, you don't want to hang out with me anymore?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yep. That's why you have more than one kid, so you can still have a purpose or a friend. I know.

SPEAKER_03

I know. I blew it.

SPEAKER_01

It's a strategy, huh? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's totally what we were going for. It's just yeah, help with help with my loneliness. That's really why. Yeah, yeah. Yep. That'll create problems later in life. That's it. That is. How I end every episode is ask every guest a series of five questions. They're pretty lighthearted, pretty fun questions. You have time to think about them. They aren't rapid fire. And um, the first question is is Did you have any backup names for your kids? Like, did you have anything that you almost named your kids?

SPEAKER_03

We didn't give Arthur his name until, I don't know, four days in.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

We were undecided. And I think that I want to say it was Arden or something like that. There was some non-traditional name, but for some reason Arthur just felt right to me. And I don't know. I guess I was stubborn enough that it just happened.

SPEAKER_01

Or your wife didn't have a good enough other name? You know, she's just like, ah, that works.

SPEAKER_03

Well, yeah, I mean, there yeah, she wasn't as stuck on another name as I was stuck on Arthur. Um, but if she had been, I mean, how do you not just let her let her go with it after she, you know, she gives birth? You're like after No.

SPEAKER_02

You don't get to say.

SPEAKER_01

You just carried this child for nine months, then birthday. I have more of a say in this than you have. I want to.

SPEAKER_03

Good luck with that one. Yeah. I think it was Ard, and I don't think we ever had like a a girl name. Uh we're A's. Okay. Um, so it had to be an A name. Um I never thought I was gonna be one of those families, but I am.

SPEAKER_00

Here you are. Here you are. Here we are. I can't think of another name possibility that ever existed. And I do recall very early on, uh as soon as we found out it was a girl, the name was Olive. Um I'm just gonna go ahead and assume my wife had it and said it, and I was like, Yep, love it. Let's go. Um, but I can't think of another name. I know at one point if we were gonna have a boy, we were gonna name the boy Bear, but another name for Olive, I don't recall one ever existing.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. I mean, sometimes he just land on it, and it's like, this is it, we're good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Hey, I'm I'm happy just to keep moving forward. Action, right? We talked about that. That's action.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's why it's like me in a nutshell. It's like, oh, he's here. What do we call him? He was baby A for like four days. Yeah. You know. At some point it was like, all right, we gotta our text message Shane is called Decision Crew, because like none of us wants to make a decision. We're usually defaulting to whatever he wants, and he's terrible at making decisions too. So uh yeah, we just talk around in circles, basically. Yep.

SPEAKER_01

Well, also, I mean, naming someone in general is really weird because you don't know personality. You don't like normally, like, I associate a personality with a name, so just to be like, yeah, man, I'm gonna dictate the rest of your existence with this name, unless you decide to change it later. But like, yeah, I yeah, let's go with this and we'll see what happens. Yeah. Next question Do you have a favorite TV or movie dad, or one that comes to mind first whenever I say that?

SPEAKER_03

I feel like it would have been like uh, you know, growing pains or something like that. Like one of those wholesome family comedies when I was growing up. Um, I probably shouldn't say Walter White.

SPEAKER_01

You it's been said before, he did a lot for his family, so you're okay.

SPEAKER_03

He did everything I did, I did for the family. Yeah, sure. Roll the dice. Walter White. Walter White. We'll go with Walter White.

SPEAKER_00

Um I've never thought about that, but I I would think my favorite TV dad is Homer Simpson. Yeah. Because I've spent so much of my life with him. Um and not that I aspire to mimic him or be like him or whatever, but I feel like I've gone through so much with him. And there are maybe some moments where you know he's just trying so hard, but he just fails at achieving something where I'm like, I you know, I I can relate to that. But um, yeah, I I feel like he's just been there for so much of my life, and then The Simpsons became something that me and my daughter watched together too, and she loves it. And I'm like, oh man, yeah, love inter intergenerational interests, those are pretty awesome. Um, so yeah, yeah, that would be my choice.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Homer Simpson is my answer, and same. It's not because I think Homer's a good dad, it's not because my dad was ever like Homer Simpson, it's just because I grew up on The Simpsons so much. So I'm like, TV dad, I'm like, oh Homer, and it's like, well, I've never strangled my kids. My dad never strangled me. I've never bought a bowling ball from my wife that had my name on it. You know, there's like a long list of things where not Homer Simpson, but it's like not to do from a TV dad as well. You know? Yes, exactly. Such as Walter White.

SPEAKER_03

There is a line that you probably should not cross.

SPEAKER_01

There is. There is. And it's poisoning children to coerce your co-workers into getting what you want. There you go. That's that's where I draw the line. That's where you drew the line. Yeah. Next question. Did you guys ever have a go-to replacement curse word? Like whenever kids were younger, like someone cuts you off in traffic, stub your toe, or something like that? Or did you just say the curse word?

SPEAKER_03

I think I started cursing pretty early, but you know, maybe the the old timey go for like a uh golly gosh or something. Like I always thought the old ones. Yeah, the old ones are kind of funny.

SPEAKER_00

They are Yeah, I I think I just bit my d tongue a lot. Um, but now I will I will carefully place some curse words out in the open now. Um Usually more though in exciting or happy moments, less so someone cuts me off and I'm screaming the F word out of them. Usually it's like, isn't this thing F and great? Like, I'll drop it more like that. Um still try not to, but every now and then I'm like, ah, just I needed the extra emphasis. How do you how else do you emphasize this in the right way without a nice little curse word?

SPEAKER_01

I think my daughters asked me what the F-word meant the other day, and I was like, um, I actually don't know how to describe this one because it is so versatile and has so many like it helps you emphasize now and it's a verb, it's uh it's everything.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um, did you that's whenever like you just reverse a question, you're like, when was the last time you heard it? And what do you think it meant whenever it's used in that way? Because I don't I don't know how to answer this question.

SPEAKER_03

Well, my son keeps asking me when he can start swearing. Can I start swearing yet? And I'm like, no, why not? Well, because once you start, you're never gonna stop. And uh I I think you should spend as much time not doing it as you can. Pretty much.

SPEAKER_01

It's yeah, it's uh all the other ones are easy to explain. Like, yeah, because you just want to I think I want to teach context more than I want to teach like don't do this. And then I'm like, well, now if I've taught you context of when it's okay to use the F-word, I don't know the greater context of the room you're in, who else is around you. So am I creating more of a problem than I realize now? You'll find out later. I will find out later. Next question what's like one of your favorite activities to do with your kids? Like favorite thing to go do with them if they still want to hang out with you.

SPEAKER_00

Right now, going through this past win winter, we played a ton of Minecraft. Um great winter activity at a farm because my garden's not doing anything. The animals are kind of in a more um chilled spot because they're they're not moving around as much and there's less to do outside. Um yeah, that that was that was the one thing where every day I'd come home and she'd be like, Can we play? Like, sure, sure. Um and then I think I think beyond that, when it gets into the more warm season, she she has been out there helping me. Um she she picked out specific things to plant in the garden like corn and wheat and oats and flax seeds, so she'll come out there and help me with all that kind of stuff. Um yeah, I'd say it's it's those things or or watching something like The Simpsons. Nice, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03

Um Yeah, my son likes to play games too. I mean, we we play a lot of games together. Um board games, video games. Um we got a basketball hoop, so we go out there every once in a while and just like kind of play one-on-one for a little bit or play horse or something. That's that's usually fun. It's like the my favorite things are when I can disconnect them from the screen.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And be like, we're hey, look at us. We're really living life here. Like we, you know, we went to the the park and we're playing tennis or something, like, you know, um activities like that are kind of my favorite. Yeah. You know, going swimming or you know, whatever.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that makes sense. Because yeah, I mean, uh, yeah, it's very easy to be distracted by the small computer in your pocket, and it always needs more. So if you can detach from that, it's always good. Yep. And then um, last question, that's one of my favorite once asked dads. Do you have a least favorite kid show or like song? Was there anything that your kids used to watch all the time or listen to all the time where you're like, I despise this thing?

SPEAKER_03

I think I've for I forbade Caillou. I think that's probably the top of one of your It is the top answer every single time.

SPEAKER_01

Everybody hates Caillou. It's just so funny because I have yet to I have no Caillou apologist. I've never met someone who is like, no, you know, Caillou's out there.

SPEAKER_03

No redeeming qualities.

SPEAKER_01

Everyone hates Caillou. Despises him.

SPEAKER_03

Um there was, yeah. That's definitely the top of the list. I'm sure there were a few other that were like, mm, this is kind of subpar storytelling. Yeah, yeah. No, Caillou's like the worst. But yeah, he's definitely the worst.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. When sh when I was younger, it was definitely Caillou and Veggie Tales. I was like, oh yeah, they shut stuff. Um now I'll put up with some stuff she's watching, but I'll like make I'll throw some jabs in there, like like if she's watching Mr. Beast or something like that, and I'll and there's some of that stuff that's entertaining to me, but I'll be like, I don't know that I don't know that this sends the right message. Seems like he's always like just dangling money at people to make them do crazy stuff. That's seems like a little bit of exploitation, you know. Then I'm like, what the hell am I saying? I'm just gonna leave the room.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, does she ever go, you know what, Dad? I think you're right. I'm gonna turn this off.

SPEAKER_01

No. That that's whenever you're like, actually, I looked up his employment agreements and he did not treat as because there's a big scandal with Mr. Beast recently of like his like guidebook and stuff, and you're like, well, if I tell her that, that doesn't mean anything to her. Like creating showing her the HR manual from her company means nothing to her, but it means something to me. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So yeah, that's it's uh it's funny because like I also think nowadays there's so much good kids television that it helps. Because like my kids rarely st watch stuff anymore in which I'm like, oh, this is awful. I can usually direct them towards stuff. I'm like, this is actually pretty good if you can do this one instead. Right. So and then um last thing I have for you is just like moment for self-promotion. So like uh if you want to promote Piebald, if you have your own Instagram accounts, anything like that, where do we find the album? Upcoming tour, all that stuff. As I I know you're deciding a lot of it still.

SPEAKER_00

Check out the new album, Tales for the Rages, just came out June 12th. Um, we're gonna be unveiling more videos. We've been making a lot of fun videos, and the next one we have is a total banger that you'll get to see soon. And our goal is actually to try to make a music video for every song of the record, and who knows? Maybe we will end up doing that over the next year and a half, two years. Um and then touring, trying to get on some support slots and festivals for the rest, you know, going into 2027. So come see us, come say hi, and uh yeah, check out the new record. And if if you like it, you know, tell your friends about it.

SPEAKER_03

If you want to say hi to me, come on down at Deep Cuts. I'm there most days. I'll make you lunch, I'll make you dinner. Nice. I'll see a show. Support local music.

SPEAKER_01

Very much so. Thanks for spending an hour with me. Just let me learn about your lives. No problem. Thank you. Yeah, man. Appreciate it. Appreciate it, guys. I'll talk to you next time. All right. Here's what I thank you so much for listening to the episode. Make sure to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at the Imperfect Dads Podcast. And make sure to give us five stars for everybody to listen to us. Music, editing, and production is all done by me. Make sure to tune in on Mondays and most Thursdays for nepisodes. This podcast is part of the Never at Phase Network. Make sure to go to Never at FaZe Network.com to learn more about it.